Topic: ‘The Exeter Conspiracy’ through the eyes of Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell.

David Holland of Wolf Hall Weekend is honored to speak at Devon History Society, Annual general meeting on Oct 14th 2023 at The Rougemont Room, Exeter Library, Devon.

The talk is free to DHS members, at The Rougemont Room, Exeter Library, who are required book at place, £4.00 for non-members and a 50% discount applies to affiliated group members.

‘In time I understood one thing – that you don’t become a novelist to become a spinner of entertaining lies. You become a novelist so you can tell the truth.’ 

Hilary Mantel

The Late Dame Hilary Mantel is praised for the rigor of her historical research when writing her Wolf Hall Trilogy and yet she was at pains to explain that the end result was fiction – albeit set as accurately as possible in a moment of dramatic English History. The trilogy and its adaptions for stage and TV have gained Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell popular attention and one question a historian may ask is, what role does fiction play in our reconstruction of the past?

To consider this question, David Holland founder of Wolf Hall Weekend will examine the recorded history of ‘The Exeter Conspiracy’ and compare it with Mantel’s retelling in The Mirror and the Light; while also looking at its impact on Devon during the period of Henry VIII’s reign. (A TV adaption of The Mirror and the Light is currently in production for the BBC.)

Click to book: https://www.devonhistorysociety.org.uk/events/devon-history-society-agm-2023/